


After the Last City

by lettersofwrittencollective



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Cannon Divergent, F/M, Reader Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:16:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersofwrittencollective/pseuds/lettersofwrittencollective
Summary: Amongst the chaos of the Last City falling, you went after Thomas and managed to get separated from the rest of the group. When Thomas wakes up in a strange place, he quickly learns that you had gone after him and never made it back to the Berg.
Relationships: Thomas/you, thomas/reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. It’s all your fault

“Tommy!” you called after the boy running back towards the WCKD compound. You watched his steps falter as he slowed down but then you saw him shake his head and speed off.

Looking at where he was to the body of your friend, you sank down next to the sandy-haired boy. Moving the hair from his face, you felt the tears fill your eyes. How is it that your lives had come to this? 

You could hear the others calling your name, Thomas’ name and Newt’s name as their steps came to a stop in the courtyard. The silence in the courtyard was in contrast with the sounds of the rebellion just on the other side of the walls. It sat heavy and all you wanted to do was scream out your sorrow. 

One of your best friends lay there, dead. You were never going to hear him laugh again and you were never going to get to argue with him over the most trivial things. 

A shallow, stuttering breath was heard and you look down to Newt. His eyes were barely open but they were open and there was a light in them, even if it was fading. 

“Gally, give me the serum!” you yelled with your hand outstretched. 

Coming up behind you, Gally handed you the serum and sank down beside you. Newts body was spasming and it took a moment but the two of you were able to get the cure down his throat. 

It didn’t take very long for his breathing to even out and become deeper. The black veins disappearing from his skin and soon the light was coming back. You smiled at him and gripped his hand tightly. 

“Hey, you,” you whispered softly, afraid that if you were too loud that you would shatter what was in front of you. 

“Am I actually alive?” Newt asked with a bewildered look on his face. A movement must have caught his attention because, his eyes flicked over to Gally and he groaned, “Nope, I’ve died and gone to hell.”

You couldn’t help laughing as Gally grumbled something about Newt being an ungrateful shank. A small smile curved on Newts lips and you leaned over, helping to pull him up into a sitting position. 

Another bomb went off not too far and you could all feel the ground beneath you tremble. Turning, you looked at Gally and Brenda, “Get him to the berg. Keep him safe and make sure a med-jack looks him over.” 

You could see Brenda nodding but Gally crossed his arms, “And where do you think you’re going?”

Your gaze moved towards the last place you had seen him. You’d all heard the announcement and you knew exactly what it was that he was planning on doing, “I have to go.” Standing up, you helped Newt stand. 

Thankfully, he wasn’t fully recovered or your sure that he’d be arguing with you about this. Tommy was as much yours as he was Newts, jus in different ways. You shook your head, “I have to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.”

You moved to step away from him when Gally called your name. He grabbed your arm when you kept going, turning you to face him, “We have to get back to the Berg. All of us, and that includes you. We need to get out of the city.”

“And what about Thomas?” you shot back as you stepped back.

You knew Gally, he wanted to argue that Tommy had made his choice when he left the courtyard but he wasn’t as heartless as he’d like people to believe. He let go of your arm and you took advantage of the situation, pulling your arm from his grip, you tell him “Gally, go. I promise I’ll catch up to you guys later.”

The blond begins to call your name but you cut him off by leaning forward and kissing his cheek. 

“Your job is to make sure all of our family makes it back to the berg. I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

With those words, you step back and Gally nods his head. Though reluctant, he trusts you and he knows that there’s no way that you were gonna leave Tommy behind. 

He reaches into his pockets and before you realize it, he’s handing you some knives and his gun as well as two magazine clips. When you say his name, a bit tersely, he puts his hand up “Nope. I got these shanks and the Bergs not too far. We’ll be fine but you’re going into all the crazy. You stay safe.” 

Nodding your head, you turn and start making your way through the Last City towards the WCKD compound. 

It takes dodging some of the humans that aren’t cranked out, trying to take over the city, and a lot of dodging WCKD’s police force but eventually you’re able to make it to where you can see the doors to WCKD’s compound within the city. 

You’d already had to use a magazine clip in keeping yourself alive and away from some of the people that were a bit more crazed in trying to take over the city as you had to backtrack your steps and take different routes to try and get here. Your officers uniform a sure contributor to that. But you were getting closer to the building which was the important part. 

Double-checking your surroundings, you run across the street and just as you’re about to enter the building, a loud crash catches your attention and you look up to see pieces of rubble falling and smoke begins to fill the air around you.

Feeling like he’d been hit by a truck, Thomas opens his eyes and tries to get up but a pain in his abdomen keeps him from moving. Turning his head, he doesn’t recognize his surroundings and panic begins to creep into his chest.

Grunting against, the pain, he forces himself to sit up, on the make-shift bed. Wherever he is, they’re either not very good at keeping prisoners or they don’t expect him to be up for a while longer, seeing as how there’s nothing keeping him down. 

It takes a moment and the world around him blurs before he’s able to refocus on it. If he’s right he’s sitting in a tent of some sort. But that doesn’t make much sense, the last thing he can remember is a fight. A fight with someone and he’d been terrified. 

Focusing on the thought, he remembers the fight with Newt. Newt had been infected and was cranking out… He’d stayed behind to get Newt back to the berg as soon as possible but they hadn’t made it in time. There hadn’t been a cure and Newt had attacked him… they’d fought and then… 

“KILL ME!” Newt had screamed. He’d shaken his head and Newt had somehow grasped onto a singular moment of clarity and had brokenly begged him, “Please, Tommy… Please.”

His heart constricted painfully as he remembered not being able to kill his friend, not being able to honor his wishes. The boy had attacked him again and in that last attack, somehow the weapon had gone off and Newt was -

Teresa’s voice had come over the broadcast system and informed the last city that he was supposed to be the cure to the Flare. He’d had no choice - he had to help… 

So he was probably back in a maze. Groaning, he forced himself to stand up from the bed and begins to try and find a weapon of some sort. If he’s gotta fight his way out of another maze then so be it but he’d prefer something to fight with. 

At first, he doesn’t think that he’s going to find anything but surprisingly, upon a second glance, there are actually a few weapons in the tent. Skeptical, he figures that it’s better to take the weapons with him for the time being and he ends up packing two guns and a few ammo rounds as well as a machete. 

Once he has the weapons on him, he starts to look for a canteen or something he can use to carry water. After all, the Scorch is no place to be without water… As he’s searching the sound of rustling distracts him and he quickly pulls one of the guns and turns around. 

“Whoa there!” the brunette calls out and Thomas heart breaks at the realization that they’ve taken her captive as well. 

“Brenda?”

“No, the tooth fairy,” the brunette snaps and Thomas grips the weapon tighter. 

“If you’re not Brenda then give me one reason I shouldn’t shoot you right now,” he says as he pulls the hammer on the gun back and tightens his grip on the trigger. 

The girl’s eyes widen almost comically and she shakes her head, “Thomas it’s me. It’s Brenda.” He shakes his head but the girl steps back and puts her hands up, “I swear to you Thomas, it’s me.”

“Then tell me something only Brenda would know.”

She looks like she’s thinking and so Thomas starts to count down from five, just as he’s saying one she screams at him to wait, “When we got separated from everyone when Jorge blew up the building cause WCKD was after you guys, before we ran into the cranks that had grown into the sewer, you told me that you were confused. That you had memories of Teresa that told you the two of you were something more and you felt that you had to be loyal to her but that you had met someone else that made you want to be a better person. That made you want to break out of that maze - not for you or the others but just for her. You said that when she smiled at you it was like the whole world would stop and you could breathe again.”

Slowly, he nodded his head. He remembered that conversation.

“You also told me that you were planning on telling her once we got here.”

“Here?” he questioned as he looked around the tent. Taking a moment to listen, he realized that he could hear the ocean and seagulls.

“Brenda, where are we?” he asked as he moved past her and through the flap in the tent. 

Stepping out of the tent he was blinded by brightness and had to squeeze his eyes shut. Cracking them open slowly, it took a couple of seconds for his eyes to adjust. 

The ocean sat in front of him, waves coming in slowly and people were amongst the crashing waves. The sound of laughter filled his ears and he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He noticed it was mostly younger kids and when he turned around he noticed that buildings were being erected.

He recognized a few people that they’d saved over the last year and some of the newer faces were faces from the WCKD compound when they freed Minho. Everyone seemed to be working on something. 

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Brenda asked as she came up beside him. 

“Did we really make it?” he asks, even he can hear the thick emotion in his voice as he looks around the place. 

“Welcome to the Safe Haven Thomas,” Brenda chuckles and he begins to laugh. 

Throwing his arms out, he whoops and laughs. The sound startles a few birds who take off out of the treeline and he watches them fly off. Hearing his name called, he turns around and see folks coming his way. 

People are calling his name and he sees Gally, Frypan, Jorge, Aris and others. He’s almost knocked over when Frypan runs into him and he can’t help hold onto the boy. 

There’s shouting around him and he can’t believe that they’re finally here. They’re finally home. They’re somewhere where they don’t have to worry about WCKD or Cranks… where no one has to die senselessly. 

He shook hands with and hugged people tightly and held onto them tightly. It was as Gally was gripping his shoulder that he saw a mop of light brown hair and piercing dark brown eyes. His heart stopped for a moment and he moved past Gally and made his way towards the pale skinny shank that he’d thought was dead.

“Newt?”

A fist connected with the side of his face and he was thrown to the side. Rubbing his jaw he looked over at the boy, “What was that for?!”

“Look around you, you shank,” Newt responded and Thomas did. He saw a happy place. A safe place. A place full of happy people and he didn’t understand. 

Turning back to Newt he asked what he was missing and Newt scoffed and turned around, walking away. Thomas went to chase after him that a grip on his arm stopped him. Turning back he saw that Gally had stopped him and was shaking his head. 

“Don’t - he needs some time,” Gally warned and Thomas shook him off. 

He started to rush after Newt when Gally and Brenda called his name. He ignored them at first but then Frypan called his name and he stopped in his tracks. 

Turning around, he looked at Frypan. He looked at Gally, at Brenda, and Aris and at Jorge and all of the happiness and joy that had just been there was gone. There was an almost perceptible cloud that hung over the group and they all looked away. 

One by one they walked away. Many of them gripping his shoulder as they walk by until only Frypan is left. It was then that he realized that she was missing. That of all the faces he’d seen and all the voices he’d heard there was one missing. 

“Wait a second, where’s Y/N?” he asked his old friend before turning around his eyes immediately started searching the area for her. 

He didn’t see her immediately but noticed a group of people further north and started making his way towards them. It didn’t take him long to make it the group and he immediately knew that she wasn’t there. 

Other voices caught his attention and he followed the sound of voices through a group of trees. Breaking through the trees he found Sarah, Michael, Ruben, Mario, Julie, Anna…. A few others that he didn’t know the names of but you weren’t there. 

Turning around, he saw Frypan had followed him and he shook his head, “Frypan? Where is Y/N?”

Frypans face flashed in pain and she shook his head, “I’m sorry man.”

“What do you mean you’re sorry? Frypan… is she with someone?”

“Thomas…”

“Is she with Liam? Ben? Roman?” 

Frypans face had fallen and he was shaking his head, “It’s not like that man she-”

“Is she sick?!” He demanded and started to walk back through the trees. There would have been a med hut. That would have been one of the first things that they put up. As he walked through the trees, he asked over his shoulder, “Where’s the med hut Frypan?”

He kept going through the woods, picking up his speed until he was practically running through the raising buildings. Almost tripping over a couple people in his haste he found himself in what looked like the middle of the buildings but didn’t see her. 

He started moving when a voice called out, “Thomas stop!”

He looked over at Vince and shook his head, “Where’s Y/N?” 

“Damn it,” Vince muttered and Thomas saw the pain on his face before he asked, “No one’s told you?”

“Told me?” Thomas questions and Vince motions for him to sit down but Thomas shakes his head and takes a step backward. 

He knew what happened. He had to know… there was a reason that he couldn’t find her but no! No! She couldn’t be. 

She had to be okay. 

She had to be safe. 

She had to be okay… 

“Vince… Where’s Y/N?” he questioned again. The question was a low whisper and his voice shook as he waited for Vince to answer him. 

Vince was silent and Thomas could feel himself begin to shake. Shaking his head, he begged, “Please Vince… Where is Y/N?”

Vince walked towards him and he saw the hand reaching out to him before he jumped back, shoving the mans hand off his shoulder. 

Vince shook his head, “I’m sorry Thomas.”

“Vince… where is she?”

It was Newts voice answered, “She never made it back to berg and we couldn’t get a hold of her on any of the radio channels after.”

Newts voice was from behind him and Thomas didn’t have the strength to turn around.The words that hit his ears made whatever strength Thomas thought he had left disappear. Sinking to his knees he shook his head. 

“What do you mean she never made it back to the berg?”

“I mean she never made it back. She went after you and no one ever saw her again. We think she’s dead.” Newt told him as he came around to the front of him. “Her death is on you.”


	2. Breathe… finally - hope

Three months, it had been three months in the Safe Haven and they hadn’t heard a word from the girl. They’d sent out radio broadcasts but no one had responded. 

Vince pointed out that the ship didn’t have that kind of range.

Still….

He knew she wasn’t gone. It wasn’t possible. He would’ve felt it. 

Newt hadn’t spoken a word to him since the day he woke up. The others, well they weren’t necessarily ignoring him but after the initial excitement that he wasn’t actually going to die wore off, it seemed like everyone was being cautious as to how they treated him. 

Her name was almost… 

It was whispered amongst the group on reverent tones. 

Whenever she came up, there would be a moment of heavy silence after the fact. It wasn’t just sorrow….

Sure there was sorrow but there was also respect, fondness, nostalgia, warmth… 

Hearing her name made the world feel okay again. 

Hearing her name tricked him into thinking that she would walk through the trees or the door and offer him that dazzling smile. 

He’d find himself looking for her, only for the reminder that she wasn’t here to settle like a lead weight in his chest. 

Each night he found himself working on the radio on the ship, trying to get it to go further. The problem was, materials he needed couldn’t be found in the Safe Haven. He knew they existed, he’d seen them before but they weren’t here.

That was the point though, wasn’t it? This place was supposed to be safety from all the other things in the world. A safe haven from cranks and that meant there hadn’t been anyone here, to begin with. Or if there had been, they’d long been dead when the kids started showing up. 

Thomas sat there, his broken heart beating along as he worked on mapping out that day’s explorations. They didn’t need runners anymore but the island was larger than they’d originally thought and so he, Minho, Aris, and a few others who’d been runners in their own mazes, took the time to explore the island. 

At the end of the day, everything was jotted down the same as before.

He was frustrated as he worked on the form in front of him. How was it possible that something so innocuous could remind him of something so terrible? 

As memories of that fateful night in the glade began to assault his memories, he tried to push them away, only to fail in his endeavors. As he worked, your screams came back, haunting him. 

The grievers had run right into the glade when the Maze doors didn’t open. People were scattering left and right. Gally and a few had taken off towards the box while a few more were trying to make their way to the Council Hall. 

He had looked everywhere for you, trying to ensure that you were safe but he couldn’t find you. 

Eventually, Teresa had pulled him into the Council Hall and he had tried to run out of Hall to go look for you when the doors had burst open and you were standing there. 

You were covered in muck and dirt, grass and a sticky substance he suspected was blood, but in the moment you were the most wonderful sight he had ever seen. Pulling you into his arms for a moment, he reminded himself that you were truly alive and held onto you tightly. 

You had stiffened in his arms at first, but he began to whisper into hair that you were okay, that he was going to keep you safe and he felt you relax against him. 

“Tommy,” you had whispered against him before a sob escaped you, “They.. they got Zart, Adam, and Frankie.” 

Your shoulders were shaking against him and he had tightened his grip on you, trying to hold you close, trying to comfort you in the midst of all the chaos. It was as he held you that Grievers had surrounded the Hall. 

Everyone had shushed, barely a breath when they heard the clacking pincers right outside the walls. Even with the silence, a tail had broken in and grabbed Chuck. 

The boys screams echoed through the room and before he’d had a chance to react, you had already moved out of his arms and were pulling on Chuck, trying to keep him from being taken. 

He’d watched as you’d grabbed both of Chuck’s arms and pulled the boy towards you. Working with you and the other Gladers, Chuck had been saved. 

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Alby. 

When the Grievers had scurried back into the Maze and the boys had all made their way outside, he had watched as you took in the Glade. In the firelight, he could see the sorrow filling your beautiful features, but along with that, he watched as your back straightened, a spine of steel, as an unshakeable resolve fell over you. 

He’d already been thinking about how to get you out of the maze but at that moment, he knew he would die if it meant getting you out. You were the epitome of strength in his eyes, even before this. But at that moment he realized that while you hid your heart, you felt things much deeper than anyone of them could even realize.

Even if the doors closed and the Glade went back to normal… If you had to keep watching the people you loved die without a fair chance at fighting back, it would kill you. 

Taking a deep breath, Thomas focused back on the radio in front of him. Stubbornness filled him and he told himself that he was going to demand that Vince let him go back to look for you. 

If you were dead, he would give you a proper burial. 

If you’d cranked out… he would… he would… It didn’t matter because he was sure you hadn’t cranked out… He was sure that you were actually immune.

Cleaning his hands, he got up and made his way back towards the main living area. 

Looking for Vince, he found that the man wasn’t in any of the area’s he normally was. He wasn’t with the builders or the medics, he wasn’t in the chow hall and from what he’d been told the man wasn’t out with the Mappers either. 

Which really only left one area for Vince to be and it wasn’t one that Thomas was really looking forward to going to ﹘ the gardens. 

Newt had been put in charge of the gardens when he was almost fully healed, a job that Thomas thought the boy was suited to, and both the gardens and the boy had thrived in the space. It was actually pretty wonderful to see. 

Thomas hadn’t set foot in the actual gardens however. Newts last words echoed in his head anytime he went near them and seeing as how he and Newt weren’t even on speaking terms it wasn’t like the man would ever welcome him in the sanctuary anyways. 

But if that was where Vince was, he was going to bite down whatever pride he may have and go find their leader. 

Making his way to the edge of the Safe Haven, he was walking past what had essentially become their “city center” with the new Council Hall when the first of the words hit him. 

She never made it back.

Just as they had the first time, those words filled him with dread. This time, however, he knew just what they meant. 

He knew who the “she” was and he knew what it was like to live without you ﹘ it was a bleak existence with no warmth. An existence void of any happiness. Laughter was something he no longer knew his throat would be able to form. 

She went after you

A lump filled his throat and he had to stop for a moment and close his eyes against the sharp pain. 

You had gone after him when he had basically handed himself over to Teresa and to WICKED for them to drag him back into their labs and poke and prod and basically destroy him 

All because Teresa had said he could save Newt. 

Something that you, Frypan, Gally and Brenda had managed to do. 

No one ever saw her again.

Breathing became harder.

His mind coming up with all kinds of scenarios of what could have happened to you. 

Cranks. 

WICKED

Other humans 

He wasn’t sure which was worse. 

Cranks would have killed you. WICKED would have thrown you into another lab and could have you in another maze, having again stolen your memories. Or they could have left your memories and tied you to a chair. 

Or worse… 

They could be like other humans… Thomas had seen what humans were capable of. Within WICKED and outside of WICKED. He’d seen the ways that desperation pulled out the worst in some people and how when all the world was falling apart they lost themselves to the darkness. 

Men, women, children… no one would be spared if it meant their own personal survival. He had seen men destroy women, women destroy children and children destroy themselves. He’d also seen children and women destroying men. 

No one was safe. 

Her death is on you.

Those words stabbed him in the heart. 

All he could picture was your body lying on the floor, all the light gone from your eyes as they stared accusingly at him. 

You were covered in blood. One of your arms broken and the other pulled out of its socket. Your hair was matted and your clothing torn. 

The vision assaulted all of his senses as the smell of fire and death filled his nose and he could swear that he could hear you screaming his name out. 

A pair of hands shakes him from his reverie and he opens his eyes to find that, at some point, he had fallen to his knees. Looking up, his eyes meet Newt’s and he can see the question on his old friend’s face. 

“What’s going on Tommy?” the Brit asks, his voice laced with concern. It’s the first words they’ve shared since that day and it breaks his heart. 

Trying not to cry, Thomas forces himself to stand up. It takes him a moment, his legs not wanting to support his weight, but if he stays on the ground he fears he won’t ever stand up again, “We need to,” he cleared his throat, “I need to go back.”

“Why would you want to go back to that blasted place?” Newt asked, annoyance seeping into his features but saw the flicker of worry in the other boy’s eyes. 

“I need,” Thomas began, knowing that it he was a very precarious situation with the boy but needing to know. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and prayed for strength, “I need to know WICKED doesn’t have her. I need to know that she’s not there Newt. She’s still alive. I know she is… I just don’t know where and the thought of her being stuck in there…. I can’t do it Newt.”

Newt gives him a look that he can’t really decipher before turning to look at the garden. For a moment, he thinks the boy will tell him to get lost. Or that he’s lost his mind. Anything that would be reminiscent of that day he’d woken up.

What he gets instead, surprises him, Newt turns back to him and offers him his hand, “Alright then.”

“Wait, seriously?” Thomas asks before he can think better of it. 

Newt merely nods his head, “Y/N’s family… The last few months have been absolutely miserable without her and…” the boy trails off with a sigh. 

Thomas watches as Newt runs a hand through his hair, looking distinctly uncomfortable, before he hears the boy clear his throat, “I was wrong. It wasn’t your fault. Y/N is stubborn as they come and I knew it wasn’t your fault she had gone. The two of you shared something more and had it been any of us, she would have gone and maybe one of us could have stopped her but with you… with you, no one would have been able to get in her way. So for that… I’m sorry.”

The apology made something in Thomas shift. Though there was still a long way to go and they still had to convince Vine that it was worth it to go. Thomas felt like, for the first time in months there was a reason for hope. 

And, regardless of Brenda’s thoughts on hope. He was going to hold on to that small spark until it was ripped from him. 

Hope that you were alive. 

Hope that you somehow survived. 

Hope that, against all odds, you were still surviving. 

Hope that he would be able to see you… to hold you. 

Hope.


	3. The most beautiful sound in the world

It didn’t take long to find Vince. 

He had been in the gardens with Newt earlier but had apparently gone to check on what some of the builders were doing in the local forest. 

When they found the older man, Thomas quickly explained what he wanted to do and why he wanted to do it. Surprisingly, Vince had agreed, almost instantly, Y/N being one of the people he’d always had a soft spot for. The reality was that she had that effect on everyone and Thomas had never been so grateful for it before. 

Plans were quickly made. He would go with Newt, Gally, Minho, Vince, Frypan, Sarah, Michael, Ruben, Brenda and Jorge. They would leave Aris and Harriett in charge here. 

Then it came time to sit down and actually make the plan. 

The group that was going, Aris and Harriet got together and started to work on what the plan would get you back in his arms. 

“I say we sail here,” Vince pointed out a very familiar spot on the map. 

It was the inlet for the compound they’d used to hide the kids from WICKED last time. When they had planned to save Minho but failed… 

“We can’t be sure that WICKED hasn’t taken over,” Gally pointed out.

“Then we’ll find somewhere else,” Thomas grit out, turning to glare at the man, “but we are not giving up on Y/N.”

“Relax Greenie,” Gally surrendered with a raise of his hands, “No one’s saying that we do that. I’m just pointing out we need to be sure that we can even land We won’t do her any good if we manage to get caught ourselves.”

Glaring at the other boy, Thomas looked over to the map. He hated that he knew that Gally was right. Looking over the map, he traced the shores of where it was that Vince had proposed they land. 

There really wasn’t a better place to land. They would have to find a way to make this work. 

He could hear Vince, Gally and Newt talking about different options they could try. 

Vince was trying to figure out if maybe there would be a better time to go. He’d tried to suggest waiting a few months butThomas had immediately shot the idea down. There was no way that he was going to hold off on getting back to you. 

As they talked, he realized he knew where they needed to land. 

Quickly, he told them his idea and the group of them moved back and forth, refining the idea until they came up with something that everyone seemed to agree on. 

It took them a few hours, but eventually they came up with something solid. They would sail out and drop anchor about 12 miles offshore, enough to ensure that if anyone was in the camp, they wouldn’t be able to see the ship. At that point, Thomas, Vince, and Newt would wait for dark before taking one of the smaller boats and they would make their way to shore.. 

Once the three of them made sure that the area wasn’t run over by Wicked or Cranks, that it was safe, Thomas and Newt would stay while VInce went back to grab the others and bring them in leaving Sarah, Michael, and Ruben on the larger ship to keep it safe. 

It was a solid plan that Thomas was looking forward to and the sooner that they got to it, the better. 

The problem came with the ship itself… apparently while working on the ships radio, Thomas had failed to notice that the ship itself was in desperate need of repairs.

Barnacles had managed to overgrow on the hull of the ship and they had to take the time to not only kill the arthropods but also scrape them off. Something they could only do during the low tide. 

In addition to that, some of the gearing had needed to be greased. 

The good thing? The ship had everything they needed to get it back in working order. It was just a matter of doing the manual work. 

Thomas had gone at it alone at first. A habit from days past. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t think that he wouldn’t get help if he asked for it. It was that it never occurred to him to actually ask the others for help. 

Newt and Frypan had joined him in the first hour, helping him carry freshwater from one of the inland rivers. 

Gally had brought some of the builders and they all took turns rotating between who would scrape the barnacles. Gally was always working on the hull, along with two other builders. 

Frustrated with the pace at which things were moving, he had wanted to snap at Gally but had to remind himself that the Haven still needed to be put together. That they were building something for the future. 

It did nothing for his mood though. 

He found himself getting more and more anxious. The few times that he would join the others for chow, he couldn’t help the feeling of restlessness. 

His leg would bounce, his hands couldn’t stay still, no matter what he did, it was like his body knew that the sooner he got this done, the sooner he would get you back. 

Working with the others, thankfully, it had taken less than a month to get the ship back up and running. Still, the month had felt like it had dragged on longer than he liked. 

But, eventually, they were on their way. 

He lost track of time while they were on the ship. Sitting on the roof above the helm, his eyes kept searching the horizon for the first sign that they’d arrived. 

The trip back to the inlet had felt like it had taken months longer than the trip to the safe haven. He’s sure it’s because he’s anxious to have her back, but it doesn’t stop the frustration. 

He pulls out a letter, one that he had written just in case things went bad. The letter bore the deepest parts of him, at least, as far as he knew how to express them. In it he’d told her about how he felt… How he was sorry that he wasn’t there with her. 

He told her of the day he realized just how much he loved her and he listed off just some of the few things about her that never failed to take his breath away. 

Like the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating. 

The way her eyes lit up like the night sky when she learned something new. 

Or how your body would practically vibrate with whatever emotion you felt. 

As the days pass, he finds himself either on the roof of the helm, reading the letter over and over again or in the radio room. Each time he reads the note, he begs whatever diety may be listening to bring you back to him. Eventually, he spends most of his time in the radio room, making calls for his girl. The closer they get, the more he makes calls out. 

The calls are made for Marina. 

He hadn’t understood it when the name first occurred to him and to this day he isn’t sure what caused it but the first time he’d called her Duchess it had felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

As they continued, Thomas tried time and time again but each time received no response. 

He couldn’t even remember how many times he’d called but nothing was heard back. No one was responding. 

Groaning, he tossed the the mouthpiece down and began to storm out of the small room. 

A crackling sound caught his attention, however, and he turned around. It was the first time that he had gotten anything out of the damned contraption.

He waited a moment when the static became more intense. 

Making his way back towards the radio, his heart stops as he hears the most beautiful sound in the world. 

“Tommy… Please tell me you can hear me?”


End file.
